Many cat owners assume they know what their beloved cats are supposed to eat by reading the nutrition label on bags of cat food and comparing them what they know about basic human nutrition. But is that really what they should be doing? The nutrients cats need are different from those humans need, and imposing a cat owner's nutritional opinions on their cat may be unfair to the cat's health. What cats eat has a huge effect on their quality of life. A cat's diet is affected by commercial cat food manufacturers and cat owners. A bad decision on their part can have fatal consequences for the cat. Most domestic cats are fed generic cat food from local grocery stores or pet stores. Others get the generally more expensive food from the veterinarian's office. According to Richard Malik, this food was "usually based on kangaroo meat or other meats or meat by-products unfit for human consumption" (Malik). Other meats used are most often beef, chicken and fish in countries where kangaroo is rare. He also mentions that kangaroo meat is widely used where he lives (Australia) and is not used as commonly in other countries like Europe. In the United States, most cat foods intended for kangaroos are purchased only from the veterinarian, as they are considered a special food for cats with allergies. It is mentioned in Malik's article that cat food today is much more nutritious than it once was. According to an article published on the Scientific American website, cat foods today are so nutritious that they are even capable of incorporating all the amino acids cats need in a vegetarian cat food (Veggie Cat Food ). Feeding cats cat foods is important because they have the right amount of nutritional value for a cat to be him...... middle of paper ......r. 2014. Gershoff, SN, SB Andrus, and DM Hegsted. “The effect of carbohydrate and fat content of the diet on the riboflavin requirements of the cat.” Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health and Department of Pathology and Biochemistry, Harvard Medical School, Boston. November 8, 1958. The web. April 2, 2014. Malik, Richard. “Cat Feeding Controversies.” Veterinary Journal of Ireland. 3.5 (2013): 253-254. Academic research completed. Internet. March 28, 2014. Vebrugghe, A., GPJ Janssens and M. Hesta. “Palatency of different concentrations of a liquid nutritional supplement in healthy cats and dogs of different ages and breeds.” » Veterinární Medicína 57.6 (2012): 300-307. Academic research completed. Internet. March 28, 2014. “Vegetarian cat food? Why don't all cats need meat. American Scientific World RSS. Scientific American. Internet. April 3. 2014